Grayson by day Robin by night
by Sarcastic Kittenz
Summary: How Dick found Bruce was Batman, and how Richard then became Robin. H/c daddybats, T to be safe. Will most likely include Robins first patrol later.


Falling while flying.

Grayson's been flying for a while, but now he's falling.

After the death of his parents Dick had finally moved in with the billionaire Bruce Wayne; who, even despite his kindness, Richard couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by.

It had been about 3 weeks and things were going well: he had settled in, moved into his room and even begun to decorate with his favourite colours. (Which in this case was a soothing green that he picked from a very large combination.)

Laid out on his bed he had his stuffed -and slightly worn- elephant sitting in the corner next to the neatly folded fluffy blanket, that matched his hair, draped over the side of the board at the end of the large bed. No doubt placed there with precision by the mansions' butler- aka Alfred.

Alfred was quite old, his face showed a few signs of ageing; although, he always wore an expression that was kind and thoughtful. Since Dick had moved in Alfred had made him feel: safe, secure and overall part of the household and for that he was more than grateful.  
Meanwhile, Bruce was hardly ever home, so bonding wasn't always an option, there was no denying that he wasn't a kind, loving man, he just never really had the time; therefore having Alfred there for support, comfort and bucket loads of attention was a gift.

There were days when the mansion was very quiet (almost too quiet) Bruce was hard at work in the Wayne industries building and Alfred would some times pop out to the garden to keep the weeds maintained on the families' generations household to so it was well restored and in precise condition; whilst Dick stayed inside the house, occasionally breathing on the window and drawing funny top hats on Alfred as he did the gardening. He would have offered to help, but he had rarely felt in the mood to do much.  
Alas, On this particular day, however, it was raining- stormy to be exact. There was lightening, thunder, the wind was vicious and it rattled the window panes with the force, hardly the weather to garden in.

Thus, Alfred was on the other side of the extravagantly large (but impressive) mansion sorting out the guest suite as Mr Kent was due to arrive that evening for a party

Why he was arriving early was beyond logic but he was and this meant that Richard was at the other side of the house pretty much alone.

Being a curious child, he lived for thrill and adventure, I mean he used to perform in a circus for goodness sake. Danger was his middle name! [for any literal readers- It's not :') ]

So, without Alfred there to tell him off, he decided to look snoop around.  
The kitchen was extraordinarily grand and it had a raised marble island, surrounded by wicker stools, in the middle between 2 very long rows of pure white cupboards and lines of twin stoves.

At the far end was an L-shaped counter with another series of stools neatly lined up along the edge.

Climbing onto the table Dick peered over the top of the cupboards looking for something that may be remotely interesting.  
Nothing.  
Not even a speck of dust. Just what kind of butler was Alfred?

(One hell of a butler ;) )

Deciding that there was nothing satisfyingly interesting in that room he moved into the sitting room; there was a very large old fashioned (but well kept) chandelier hanging in the centre. It was incredibly bright illuminating the entirety of the gigantic room but had lights instead of candles, most likely to be safer surrounding the crystals that hung loosely from its base.

Looking around there was a series of white leather sofas all next to each other, placed on top of a black designer rug that sat comfortably under each of the legs of the couch.

Upon the wall hung large oil painted portraits of the Wayne family, it started with someone who Dick assumed was now tech inequally his great, great, Grandfather and it went along on one wall with all male owners of the Wayne family until it reached Bruce's father.

He was a broad looking man with a well-groomed moustache. He had an intimidating form. But his eyes matched those of Bruce with a kind and friendly appeal to them.

They almost lured you into trusting them...

That is when he saw an opportunity...

Towards the middle of the room was fire place and with it a very large engrained grandfather clock with some suit of armour standing humbly, but none the less proudly next to it.

Calculating the distance he would need to travel for a successful jump and the speed: he saw that he could go from the sofa; swing from the chandelier; hop from the fire places' mantlepiece, then onto the suit of armour before landing back on the sofa. In his head it seemed a fantastic plan, Alfred wasn't there at this point and Richard could hear his footsteps so he had more than enough time to be reckless without the risk of receiving a lecture.

Planning it in his head was one thing, but carrying it out, afters months of no training, was most certainly another. It was going well so far, although what he didn't realise, let alone considered, was that the suit of armour was not held in place and with the force of his jump it meant that it wobbled and started to fall. In a panicked attempt to restore it, (and his dignity) he grasped hold of the candle holder and managed to gently nudge the statue back into place before it went crashing dramatically to the candle stick holder, on the other hand, had other plans, as it started to twist and rotate under Dicks' grip. It hadn't fallen but it had dislodged into a downwards position away from its original stand and was now pointing at the floor.

Wait what?  
Dropping to the floor- startled, he watched at the fireplace began to reposition before his eyes and transform. Staring in horror he watched as it opened into the face of a blue looking interior, much like that of the ocean.

Dick could not believe his eyes. What an earth was happening?

Magic? All he knew was he was compelled to find out.

Taking a hesitant step forward he took a sideways glance, the statue was hanging slightly off but he didn't notice, or if he had, it didn't register. All he was looking for was signs of Alfred returning before wasting no time walking straight into the tube with hast- watching as the came to a sudden abrupt close in front of him.

It appeared to be some kind of lift that jolted into life and started to descend with speed spiralling downwards into the depts of the ground. It was then he got a large feeling of panic overwhelm him. What was he doing? This could lead anywhere!

'I'm going to die' he whimpered in his head. 'Wait...no, positive thoughts!' As he continued his quest. 'I feel like a mini Batman' he chuckled, unaware of where he was headed.

It arrived swiftly, silently and opened to reveal a large open space surrounded by jagged rocks and currently displaying a screen saver, computer screens. There was even a turntable in the middle of the platform.

Then he noticed the large bat symbol above the monitors and imprinted on the centre of the circle.

'The Batcave" he whispered to himself...'how ironic' he thought, in shock and awe at the same time.

Then it struck him.

'If this is attached to Bruce's house, that means Bruce is..." He stopped. 'No that can't be ri...' He lost his train of though as he could hear Alfred calling for him, it was getting closer towards where he had come down. Wary that Alfred may know about the Batcave and would discover he was down here, consequently talking away sweets for a month, he decided to take cover in the shadows in an attempt to hide.

Backing into the furthest corner he started to hear movement all around him. It was like the cave was alive, unsurprisingly there were bats living in the rafters with would lead a logical explanation for that; although, that didn't stop him being paranoid about the situation.

To the right of the cave there where a set of steps that lead up to the platform that was shadowed by the jagged rocks. Taking it as his best bet, he ran up the steps 2 at a time, shadowing himself behind one of the rocks that had a small gap below so he crouched down and could see but still stay hidden. It was right on the edge of the rafters, so he could slide down the pole to escape if necessary.

It was then that the door he had arrived in opened and there stood Bruce, dressed in his work suit closely followed by Alfred. Bruce had his expressionless look about him, whereas Alfred showed signs of guilt and concern.

What was he up to?

Dick made sure to stay hidden so that he wasn't spotted.

"Are you sure he is down here?" Alfred inquired

It was to this that Brice replied that the coat of arms was off balance, before whispering something into Alfred's ear.

He knew he should have sorted that out before he came down.

Dick backed up a bit, aware he had been busted, but not found before he stumbled on a cracked broken ledge of rock resting on the floor, sending him falling backwards with a cry, backwards over the side of the rafters he was standing on.

Squeezing his eyes shut he waited to; 1 have his cover blown and Bruce finds his location and 2 to fall and most likely break most of the bones in his body...Just like his parents. He felt tears spring to his eyes. He would see them again soon.

Preparing for the impact he was most pleasantly surprised to find the surface he fell onto was nowhere near as hard as it should have been, in fact, it was too warm and squishy to be the floor.

His breathing hitched, he was in so much trouble, he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to compel the tears to waver, too scared to no doubt look up to the angry Bruce he was currently being held by.

In addition, he was having a hard time breathing as well, it must have just been shock or slightly thinner air, he tried to reassure himself.

It wasn't until he heard Bruce's voice out of the haze of his hearing that leapt into focus that he realised just how hard he was finding breathing (which he considered to be an easy task) so much so that he was hyperventilating.

"-k, calm down, breath with me."

"Breathe, come on, in then out."

"I-I can't" he whimpered. "It...it...h-hurts" he whispered.

"I know but I need you to try and match your breathing to mine, okay?"

Dick nodded and started to focus on his breathing, rather than how much trouble he was in.

After a few monotonous minutes, his breathing had finally evened out, but he was beginning to feel quite ill, and rather tired. His chest ached, his eyes stung and his head was spinning slightly.

"That's it, good boy" Bruces coaxed before lowering Dick to the ground making sure he had calmed down before continuing.

"That's it deep breaths," Bruce said, rubbing reassured circles on Dicks' back.

There was a small whimpered cough as Dick looked up into his mentor's eyes as his own began to tear up.

"I'm s-sorry, I...you...I mean...Alfred was...and I decided to...and you...you...your..."

He breathed before being sent into another array of coughs.

Bruce continued to rub his back in soothing circles waiting for him to continue.

"You're batman..." He whispered before falling into his mentor's arms exhaustion taking over his whole body as his eyes started to droop. He wasn't sure if Brice had heard him; he was too tired to care.

Of course Bruce had heard him, "We will speak about this later" he muttered; with that he picked Richard up into his arms and carried him to his room, tucking the boy in and ensuring he was settled before closing the door with a soft click and descending back down to the Batcave, to an already waiting for Alfred.

"Well, he was going to find out someday." Alfred reassured him, "It was only a matter of time."

"I know Alfred, but the boys so young, I didn't want him to find out just yet."

"I'm sorry Master Bruce, this is all my fault, I should have been looking after him better as he is my main priority." The butler said, guilt penetrating every word.

"It's not your fault Alfred, the boy is old enough to be left alone for a short period of time, we will wait until he wakes and finds out what happened. Now I must get some paperwork before Clarke gets here."

"You are most kind Master Bruce, I shall see to the final preparations."

Dick woke up later that evening. His room was dark and didn't feel inviting at all. He felt hot and his sheets started to feel clammy against his skin.

Was he getting ill?

Getting up, he ventured sluggishly over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror whilst running his hand thoroughly through his hair, he realised how warm he felt, his nose was running and now taking in his appearance he realised how tired he looked and...pale?

Choosing to ignore it he dressing in his casual, but quite smart clothes, he opened the door quietly to avoid unwanted attention and slid along the floor of the mansion in his socks to reduce noise.

However, when he reached the dining room, Alfred wasn't there, which was a relief as he didn't have to answer questions about what happened earlier.

He thought he was safe, that was until Bruce strolled through the door.

Dick just eyes his mentor as he walked up to one of the stalls.

"Dick comes here" Bruce gestured at the chairs next to him. "There are a few things we need to discuss."

'Oh god.' where Dicks' only thoughts as well walked towards his adoptive father and sat down in front of him, his heart racing in his chest.

"Now, would you like to explain how you ended up down there?"

Dick let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding and sat there for a moment contemplating whether to say he tripped.

"I...it was an accident" he stuttered before looking at the floor in shame. "I was swinging off the lights like a t-trapeze..."

"You were what! Dickie. What have I said about climbing on the furniture." He said in a stern voice. "Then what happened?" He said giving Dick the eyebrows rise.

"T-the armour started to fall, and I swung on the candle h-holder to kick it back in place... And...and..." By this point Dick was in tears, he knew he was in deep trouble and he had most likely lost the trust of his adoptive father, to add to it he now felt pathetic to show weakness in front of him.

Bruce noticed this and leant forward pulling his ward into a comforting embrace. "Shhh, I'm just glad you are okay, but it does now mean you know who am I am, correct?"

Dick just nodded and wiped his nose of a tissue that he had stuffed in his pocket.

"Well, then, in that case, you must swear to keep it a secret, can I trust you to keep it to yourself?"

"Y-yes" Dick nodded, sniffing again. "I am sorry to have disobeyed you."

"You were wrong to do so, but you are safe and that is the main thing."

Just then the doorbell rang. Bruce got up and headed towards the door to greet Clarke.

Meanwhile, Dick was in the dining room, he noticed all the plates lined up with an extra one for Mr Kent who Bruce had just gone to let inside.

Deciding that he wanted his batman cup as a small joke he moved into the kitchen locating his cup which was on the top shelf of the cupboard, just above the shelf with plates.

Thus, meaning he had to climb up onto the counter and retrieve it.

Lifting himself gently up onto the first slate of marble counter, he looked up at the white cupboard where his cup was situated. Reaching up he made a grab for the cupboard, holding onto one of the shelves for support, this, however, then slipped from its place sending both Dick and the plates tumbling to towards the ground.

It was at this moment Dick got a sense of adrenaline and without even thinking did a backwards summersault, landing gracefully in the centre of the smashed crockery now lying at his feet.

There was the harsh sound of hurried footsteps and Alfred, Bruce and Clarke all appeared at the door within moments.

"What happened?" Bruce asked, his tone harsher than intended.

Dick just stood there in silence clutching his batman cup, staring at the floor as though Bruce's expression would hurt him in some way.

Before he could say anything he was lifted into the arm by two strong arms, which took him by surprise making him squirm and try to get away which only made them hold him tighter.

"Calm down, it's just me," Bruce said lifting him clear from the broken crockery and onto a nearby chair.

"Are you hurt?"

"No" came the shallow blunt reply.

It was then that Bruce noticed the cup in his hand.

"You should have just asked me or Alfred to help you.".

" Sorry, I didn't mean to break them." He whimpered.

"I know, just remember for next time, okay?"

"Okay" by this time Alfred had already removed and cleared all of the broken fragments. They stood there in silence for a moment, unsure what to say.

"Hello Richard, it's nice to see you again," Clarke said breaking the ice.

"Hello," he replied with a smile.

Then they all sat down for dinner before getting ready for the party that evening.


End file.
